first off i partially blame u all for this. i am fully addicted to brewing and am spending a fortune, which is bad for me because i am a poor college student(go seminoles). i just bought a new kettle and burner so i thought since i am now doing full boils i am going to need a better method to cool than an ice bath. i want to make a wort chiller and immersion seems easier. do i use copper tubing? how much? also i thought about making something where it is basically a siphon into the fermentor with a coil in a ice bath in the middle of it. would that work? thanks for feeding my addiction!

As long as you can find your copper that cheap, go for it. I think 25' of 3/8 is closer to $30 still and it is the bare minimum size/length to cool full boils in a reasonable time. You might want to use 3/8" ID vinyl hose because it will fit the copper really well.